Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Reusable bags

So, since I live in an apartment, I can't do a whole lot of recycling which annoys the daylights out of me. I heard that the average American uses between 250 and 300 plastic bags a year. That statistic about makes me want to throw up. Sometime last year, I started using recyclable bags and made it my goal this year to end up with less than 20 plastic sacks from the store. I admit that I periodically use them as trash sacks in my bathroom, but I have such a stockpile already that I really don't need more. AND as a bonus Hy-Vee gives me five cents per bag. I've gotten into the habit of just keeping a few in the car. For months, I'd almost always ended up being checked out at Target by this little old lady who said, "We love green

people. I wish we gave a discount."

And then, the first week of October, I was at Target picking up a few items and the guy checking me out said, "And now, you get five cents off because of your bag!" Wahoo! While I appreciate the positive reinforcement and the extra savings, part of me wonders, would people be more apt to switch to reusable bags, if they were going to be charged for plastic sacks? I think Ikea charges for plastic bags, and i doubt it's hurting their business.